Hi, crafty friends! Yesterday was the start of the Coloring Club Challenge over on Instagram. Alberto Gava of alcohol marker fame is organizing it, and all throughout April there are different themes to follow for a total of ten challenges, each lasting three days. There are some great sponsors with prizes up for grabs and the first theme is monochrome. I shared the coloring of this cute mouse yesterday, and today, I have the finished card to show you.
I used grays for my coloring of this Wishing stamp from Purple Onion Designs. I love this large illustration from Stacey Yacula – it’s actually the first Purple Onion Designs image I ever colored, and as such, it holds a special place in my heart.
I used the Watercolor Wash Free Form die and the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things to cut a window opening and create the faux stitching on the edges of a piece of Dove cardstock from Concord & 9th. I used the Watercolor die to cut a few more layers from white cardstock to glue behind the grey for dimension.
I scribbled a bit of N5 Copic marker on a scrap of Dove cardstock to make it a little darker, let it dry, then stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the A Beautiful Day Sentiment Set from Purple Onion Designs (unfortunately, I think the set’s discontinued, I couldn’t find it when searching the POD store). I then used one of the dies in the Essential Stitched Sentiment Strips die set from MFT to carry on the faux stitching look that I already had going. I added a few strips of cardstock behind it for even more dimension and adhered it in the bottom left of the card.
To finish off the card. I adhered a few Dew Drops from Concord & 9th. With greyscale coloring, grey cardstock, white heat embossing and clear dew drops, it looks like I took black and white photos of this card, but I promise I didn’t.
I don’t think I’ve ever colored an image with less markers.
First of all, this card is huge. It measures 5 1/2 x 7 1/4″. I started by stamping HAPPY from the All the birthdays stamp set from Concord & 9th onto half a sheet of Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I used Aqua Sky, Buttercup, Grapefruit and Honeysuckle inks, all from Concord & 9th. It was easy to shift the cardstock up and down in my Misti to get them all lined up. I then stamped the scripty birthday word in the stamp set using Obsidian ink from Altenew, making sure that the bottom part of the letters matched up with the Grapefruit stamping.
I trimmed down the panel, added a few more panels behind it for dimension and adhered it to my card front that I had covered with strips of cardstock colors in the same colors as my inking. I decided not to add any embellishments to this, sometimes you just need a simple card. This one would be super easy to create in a lot of different color combos. I’m longing for proper spring and summer, so mine’s with happy colors.
I love this Sweet Stems die set from Concord & 9th. It was part of their February release, and it’s so versatile. It has a separate coordinating stencil set (which I didn’t use for this card), which is great if you want lots of color, but not spend 512 hours on a card. The die set consists of a cover die, which is what I used here, and seven smaller dies. One of them cuts the outline for Hey Friend, which is a sentiment in the coordinating stamp set. I love when you can mix and match products like this.
I used the cover die to cut a bajillion pieces from white cardstock (Stamper’s Select White from Papertrey Ink), then cut one panel each from Peacock, Honeycomb, Nectar and Grapefruit cardstock, all Concord & 9th colors. I started with one of the white outlines adhered to a piece of Harbor cardstock (also a C9 color), and puzzle pieced the stems and leaves into it with the Peacock color.
In total, I stacked 6 white outlines and added the flowers and the flower centers at varying depths. The flowers are all slightly different shapes, but the centers are all the same, making them easy to stack.
Once I removed the masks, I could color in my scene. I always start with the background elements before coloring in the focal point. I wanted a very wintery card, so I kept the trees pretty much white, only adding a little bit of the blues I used for the rest of the snow to make them look less flat.
I stamped a sentiment from the 
I cut my panel down to 4 1/2 x 5 3/8″, which gave me an even 1/16″ border around the edge when I adhered it to my A2 card base. I love a think border like this. I also love a very chunky border, usually when I mount my panels with foam tape. To me, it seems silly to add foam tape to a panel that goes close to the edge of the card, but with a wide border, it really makes an impact. I finished off the card by drawing in the Big Dipper stars using an extra fine point Sharpie paint marker.
Not a whole lot of markers used for this one, actually. Although I see that I missed the colors I used (BV29, 25, 23) for the sky in this graphic.
I started by stamping the large flower in the Pristine Peonies stamp set from Altenew using VersaMark ink. I added Gilded embossing powder from Brutus Monroe and melted the powder before die cutting the flower and then using the coordinating stencils to quickly color in the flower and leaves. I used Nectar, Grapefruit, Sorbet and Cayenne inks from Concord & 9th for the florals, and Pistachio, Misty Sage, Mossy Meadow and Green Opal Fresh dye inks from Altenew for the leaves and buds.
I die cut an additional three layers of the floral from white cardstock to glue behind my colored one, did partial die cutting on the card base using the same die and then ran the base through my Gemini Jr. with the Angled Mosaic embossing folder from Altenew to create some texture to the card front.
I adhered a panel of Grapefruit cardstock from Concord & 9th to the inside to accentuate the look of the open front, and added my stacked die cuts to the front of the card base. Even though the tips of the leaves touching the table when the card is on display are pointy, all the layers make for a very sturdy front, so they won’t bend.
I actually used a Christmas die for the sentiment. The die cuts out the word juleklem (Christmas hug), but by omitting the first four letters, I was left with klem (hug). I die cut two stacks of three layers each and die cut the shadow layer from Heavyweight Translucent vellum from My Favorite Things. I sandwiched the vellum between the two stacks and adhered my stacked die cut on top of the flower. I stamped and gold heat embossed a coordinating sentiment (translation: because you deserve it) onto a strip of Sorbet cardstock from Concord & 9th, adhered it to the vellum and added a few more layers on the back for strength and dimension, before finishing off the card with satin gold sequins from Altenew.
I adhered my shaker panel to the card base and cut a couple of additional white panels to put on the inside of the card. This means I have a white panel to write my personal message, the card is a little sturdier because it’s now thicker, and the piece I adhered on the back of the front covers up the fact that I could actually see through parts of the card base after my little sawing earlier. Not shy about glue, remember? Yeah, the glue does its job, and I tore parts of it down to almost printer paper thickness. I added sequins to the front of the card (one covering up my stamping mishap) and I was done. At least I thought so… I was happy with the card, but then noticed as I was writing up the blog post for Papiria that the counter of the second P had slipped a little and wasn’t in the right spot anymore. It was bugging me. It was *really* bugging me, so I peeled it off, die cut a new one that I adhered in the right spot and took a couple of new photos. You can still see the droopy counter in the first two photos here, but that’s my card. I got there in the end.
I haven’t done any coloring since December, so I felt rusty. Thankfully, these images from Lili of the Valley are easy ones for jumping back in! Once my coloring was complete, I fussy cut him, leaving a thin white border around the edge. I didn’t want to cut away the “fuzzies” that are so typical of LOTV images, so by leaving a white border, I could preserve the look. I used an embossing folder (Quilted embossing folder from Concord & 9th) to create some interest in the background without being too distracting.
I cut down a few colors of cardstock from Concord & 9th to 3/16″ wide strips and glued them together on a scrap piece of white cardstock. The colors I used are Oceanside, Aqua Sky, Buttercup, Grapefruit and Honeysuckle. I mounted my stripped up panel at an angle, put a few foam squares behind the monkey and added him on top. I die cut hugs (Quilted die set from C9) three times from white cardstock, stacked them and adhered them on top of my strips next to the monkey. I then stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from the Itty Bitty Gifting stamp set from My Favorite Things onto a black piece of cardstock from Concord & 9th. I added a couple of layers of black cardstock behind for strength and dimension and adhered it on top of the die cut word, before finishing off with a few sequins from the Starry Night mix from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
Simple color combo this time.
Speaking of the card, I tend to go for spring/summer themed card and color palettes when we’re in the dead of winter. I want summer so badly, it’s not even funny. Last summer was cold and dreary, the summer before that all rained away. Can we get a proper summer this year? Please? Anyway, I used a floral image from a cut out sheet and paired it with a new die from Kort & Godt. New products help with mojo! This die cuts a circle sentiment, and what I didn’t realize before I actually used it was that it cuts an inside circle, too. It makes the die more versatile than if this were one large sentiment circular panel, but I wanted to use the flowers, so I puzzle pieced the two back together, added another circle panel on the back for a little bit of strength and a place to adhere the thin frame to.
I ran a quarter sheet of Ballet Slipper cardstock from Concord & 9th through my die cutting machine using an embossing folder, which gave this fun dimensional background. I mounted the die cut image in the center, cut down a couple of sentiment sticker strips and mounted those as well, before finishing off the card with a few faceted pearls.
i colored the scene with Copics, before using a die in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower to trim down my panel. I stamped a sentiment from the 
I used the Snowflake Oval Frame embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp to create some texture on a panel of white cardstock which I adhered directly to a top fold card base, before mounting the panel on foam tape to finish the card. Super simple, right?
A lot of Copics for this one.
I started by die cutting the sentiment. I cut the shadow layer from True Black cardstock from Papertrey Ink and the top layer from gold glitter cardstock from Kort & Godt. I love their glitter cardstock, it’s so smooth and nothing rubs off. I used the largest die in the Additional A2 Layers die set from Waffle Flower on a piece of Eucalyptus cardstock from Concord & 9th, before using the faux stitch die in the Festive Blooms die set from Concord & 9th to dry emboss the panel, which I then adhered to my black card base. I love that there’s a tiny little black border.
I die cut leaves and sprigs from the Festive Blooms die set and the Joyful Season die set (also from Concord & 9th) to frame my sentiment. I used Sprout and Juniper cardstocks from Concord & 9th for the leaves and sprigs, and a little bit of Rustic White cardstock from Papertrey Ink for the berries. I curled up the ends of the leaves, added foam tape on the back of the berries and adhered it all to flank my popped up sentiment. There you have it, a Christmas card with what I believe to be a very modern palette.
Papirmølla 